


Almost.

by HurtByTenderLies



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Failed Relationship, almost lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23700289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HurtByTenderLies/pseuds/HurtByTenderLies
Summary: They could never be. Everything was almost perfect. Almost there...
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Almost.

**Almost.**

They could never be. Everything was  _ almost _ perfect.  _ Almost _ there.

She wanted him to be happy. She would do anything at all for him. He was her everything. She just wished she could be his. It had been so close, but so far out of reach, the way the moon chased the sun. They’d met once in her lifetime, and she knew they wouldn't again while she lived. That is what made it so painful.

She thought of the times they spent on the beach, both getting a tan at the house on Ember Island, time she spent playing with his hair in bed. It was so long now, and she could recall how thick and soft it was in her hands. The thought about the Fire Lord hairpiece that would sit atop his bun, naming him the Fire Lord. He was to lead a  _ nation _ . Oh, how she wished she could be by his side. The queen of the nation, the one he would return to after meetings, and the one he’d lie in bed with at night.

She knew that she loved him. He loved her too, just as much. But then, he had his duties to his people. They came first. They were  _ his people _ , and she wasn't one of them. She was an outsider; a waterbender. A peasant. She knew the day would come when he would have to leave her, she expected it.

But she didn't know it would hurt this bad. She looked at herself in the mirror, thinking selfishly that she would rather him stay with her; that they could lead  _ together _ . But with how his council saw it, it was improper. They gave him reasons. She knew they were justified, though not all true, justified. She hated them still.

_ She’s a waterbender. She’s loyal to  _ them _. _

_ She just wants power. She’s a peasant. She will never be a queen. _

_ The people will be outraged. You’ve destroyed their customs enough. Give them something to believe in you for. _

_ You need an heir. A  _ firebending  _ child. And what of the instance you only produce waterbending or nonbending children together? Who will be the next Fire Lord? _

The last one hurt the most, and she knew, every single bit was true. Oh, how she wished it didn’t work this way. The world was so unfair.

Long gone were their late nights together. Their beach adventures, their late night talks. He told her how he  _ really _ felt, and she did the same. Long gone were the shared secrets, the stolen kisses. Long gone would be their shared love. All she could do was stand by and watch it burn in front of her eyes. Just like fire did. Burn.

She would go back to the Southern Water Tribe when he announced publicly that he was engaged to Mai. Not a surprise, though it hurt as if it were. They had been childhood friends, they had been lovers before she met him. This had been expected for quite some time. She would produce firebending children for him.

Zuko visited her in the very early morning of her departure. He gave her a tender kiss, and as she wept, he kissed her tears away too. She stared into his eyes, silently pleading him to pick her, to let her stay. She caressed his face with both hands, her thumb running over his scar. The nerves were nearly all dead, and she knew he wouldn’t feel it. But it wasn’t for him. It was for her. She was memorizing it. She was memorizing him, the way his burned side never wept, the way he blushed when she complimented him, and the way his face softened when she told him she loved him.

This time, he put a hand over the one on his scar. He gently removed it and kissed it, before carefully letting go. She looked at her hand, still held up in the air from his touch. When she looked back up, he was gone.

They were  _ almost _ happy together.  _ Almost _ .

She set off on a boat not long after that, back home. Back to where she belonged.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. I'm thinking of writing a companion one-shot for this, so let me know if you'd like one.  
> Comments and Kudos are very appreciated .


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